Orange or fruit washer



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. 0. WILSON. ORANGE OR FRUIT WASHER.

Patented Oct. 22, 1895.

ANDREW RGRMMM.PHUlO-UmO-WASIIIMGTUMDD.

2 Shets-Sheet 2. J. OLWILSON. ORANGE 0R FRUIT WASHER.

'- No. 548,341. Patented 0%.22, 1895;

' ANDREW EGRMIAM.PIIOTU-LITHOWASHINGTUNJb.'

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN CLARK WILSON, OF SOUTH PASADENA, CALIFORNIA.

ORANGE OR FRUIT WASHER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 548,341, dated October 22, 1895. Application filed December 7, 1894- Serial No. 531.102. (No model-l To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known thatI, J OHN CLARK WILSON, a citizen of the United States, residing at South Pasadena, in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented new and useful Improvements in Orange or Fruit Washers, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates particularly to those devices which are designed to remove the dirt and smut from oranges and lemons and to clean them for the market so that they will present an attractive appearance.

Incidentally my invention is to provide a washer which may be used to cleanse vegetables-suoh as potatoes, or any fruit or "egotables of a size which will pass through the machine.

One great difficulty in cleansing oranges for the market arises from the fact that the minute cells which contain the essential oil of the orange are located close to the outside of the skin and are very easily broken, and if these cells become broken the orange soon decays, or if the orange does not decay its appearance is marred by the destruction of the oil-cells and it is rendered unsalable thereby.

In all of the devices for cleaning fruit of which I am aware this objection has been present, and the object of my invention is to provide a device which will thoroughly cleanse every portion of the orange or other article to be cleaned, and will do so without in any manner injuring the article treated.

A further object of my invention is to produce a device which will be more expeditions in its operation than any heretofore known and one which will be simple and cheap in construction and not liable to get out of order.

My invention consists of a long narrow chute or runway lined with suitable material for brushing the articles to be cleaned and having its bottom and one of its sides formed of bolts which are arranged upon suitable pulleys, so they may be revolved in opposite directions.

My invention also consists of the various features of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

The accompanying drawings illustrate my invention.

Figure 1 is aperspective side elevation of a machine embodying my invention, a portion of the framework being broken away to expose the construction, and portions of the walls of the runway also being broken away,

one of the brushes forming one side of the runway as shown in Fig. 3.

A In the drawings, A represents the frame of the machine, in which arejournaled two shafts B B, upon which are respectively secured pulleys O 0', around which is trained the belt D. Upon the belt 1) is secured a series of brushes d, which form the bottom D of the runway through which the oranges pass while being cleaned. One side E of the runway is formed of brushes e, secured to a suitable stationary support E. As shown in Figs. 3 and 4:, these brushes are each held in position by means of a projecting shaft or arm e, which is arranged to reciprocate in a suitable opening 6, which is provided in the supports to receive it. To the, outer end of this arm is attached a cord or chain F, or other flexible connection, which passes forward over a pulley e' and thence downward, and to its lower end is secured a weight F, so that the tendency of the weight is to gently draw the brushes inward against the fruit which is passing through the runway, The stem 6 is supported upen rollers e" which allow the stem to reciprocate with very little friction. By thus forming one side of the passage of short sections, and arranging an independent weight to force each section into the passage, 1 am enabled to cleanse,with the same machine, large and small oranges without exerting any more pressure upon the large oranges than uponjthe small oranges. This is only made possible by the use of a weight, for if a spring is employed, as the springis compressed it exerts moreforce, so that therefore a large orangein passing through the machine would compress the springto such an extent as to injure the oil-cells, while a small orange would not receive sulficient pressure to thoroughly cleanse it.

By providing the rollers to support the stem of the brush practically all friction is avoided and an even pressure upon the fruit is at all times assured.

The top of the runway is formed of stationary brushes g, which are secured to a flexible band G, whereby they are held stationary.

The other side of the runway is formed of a belt I-I, having brushes h secured thereto, and is trained over suitable supporting pulleys H and H. Power is transmitted through the medium of the beveled cog-wheels I and 1 to cause the belt H to travel ina direction opposite that in which the belt D travels. I consider it preferable to reduce the speed of the belt II to one half that of the belt D. The result of this is that the belt D operates to carry the orange or other article toward the discharge end and the belt H tends to carry it toward the feed end of the machine, and the friction of the orange or fruit against the stationary side and the top wall of the chute engages the fruit and it is thus rolled over and over, and every portion of the fruit is thus exposed to a scrubbing action and is thoroughly cleaned.

The belt D is supported upon series of rollers J, which are journaled upon the frame A and revolve as the belt travels thereupon. These rollers prevent undue saggin of the belt and hold it evenly and firmly in position.

The band G, to which are attached the brushes g, which form the top of the chute or runway, is stretched to hold the brushes in such a position that they will press by the force of gravity lightly upon the fruit, and by suitable tension means, such as the thumbscrew K, this pressure may be regulated with nicety to suit the article being treated by the machine.

While I consider it preferable to have the top and one side of the chute or runway stationary, still I do not limit my invention to such construction, for the reason that all the walls of the runway may be made to move at varying rates of speed and in any direction and valuable results accomplished.

Suitable means for feeding fruit into the machine are provided such, for instance, as the elevator L, which consists of a belt M, trained around suitable pulleys m m and provided with a series of transverse cleats M", which are provided with pockets M", which are each arranged to receive and hold a single article and to carry it upward and discharge it upon the apron N, which conducts it down into the machine. I moisten the fruit by means of water introduced through the pipe 0, which is provided witha nozzle P, which directs the water into the mouth of the passage and upon the fruit as it emerges from the apron N. The pipe 0 also discharges water through a nozzle 0' upon the fruit when it reaches a 'point about one-third of the length of the runway from the discharge end of the machine, so that the fruit is at first wetted by the nozzle I and the dirt and smut is loosened by the brushes before it reaches the water-discharge O, and this clean water operates to rinse the impurities from the fruit, so that it is discharged from the tail of the machine in perfectly cleansed conditiom The elevator is supplied with fruit from the tray Q, which is provided with converging sides and is arranged to deliver one article at a time to the elevator. The elevator is run by means of a belt R. which is trained over suitable pulleys r r and receives its power from the crank S, which I have shown as means for operating the machine. It is to be understood, however, that my machine may be operated by steam-power or any other suitable power, and I do not limit myself to any especial mode of applying power thereto.

e In practice the fruit is placed in the tray Q and is carried upward by the elevator M, and is discharged through the apron N into the runway or passage. The operation of the belt D, which is traveling in a direction indicated by the arrows, causes the fruit to be carried toward the discharge end of the machine, and in so doing the fruit engages with the side wall and the top of the chute and the brushes operate to loosen the impurities. The belt H,- engaging with the sides of the fruit, tends to carry it backward toward the mouth of the machine against the operation of the belt D, and thus the contact of the fruit with the two moving belts and the stationary side and top cause the fruit to be turned into every position, thus to expose every portion of the fruit to the scrubbing action of the rubbing-surfaces.

When the fruit is only soiled by dust, the machine may be utilized by running the bottom belt and the side belt in the same direc tion, but running one of the belts ata greater speed than the other, so that thereby the fruit will be carried very rapidly through the machine, but all parts will be exposed to the rubbing or brushing action of the brushes.

It is to be distincly understood that I do not limit my invention to having the chute arranged in the horizontal position shown, but would broadly claim any long narrow chute which is lined with suitable material for brushing the surface of the fruit, and 'is provided with suitable means for driving the fruit therethroug'h. It is also to be understood that I do not limit my claim to a chute or passage which is rectangular in cross-section, nor do I limit it to any especial size, the size being regulated by the size of the article which is to be treated. My machine will be found advantageous for use in preparing potatoes, apples, &c., for market, and it will thoroughly and effectually clean lemons, and, in fact, any fruit which is not of too great length compared with its diameter.

As shown in Figs. 1 and 2, the brushes which form the stationary side of the runway, are secured upon a movable member E", which is secured to the stationary member E by screw-threaded rods E which are arranged to be actuated to force the member E away from or to draw it toward the stationary member E, thus to increase or diminish the size of the passage-way. The brushes e are attached to the movable member E" by means of spiral springs e, in order to allow the brushes to yield as the fruitpasses through the passage-way.

Suitable belt-supporting rollers h are arranged to receive and support the belt H to prevent it being drawn by the force of gravity downward off of the pulleys H and H.

Now, having described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. The fruitcleaning machinesetforth consisting of a traveling belt provided with a suitable rubbing surface and arranged to form the bottom of a chute or passage: asec- 0nd belt also provided with a suitable rubbing surface and arranged to form one side of such chute or passage, the other side and the top of the passage being stationary and provided with suitable rubbing surfaces, and suitable means for driving the side belt in a direction opposite the direction in which the bottom belt travels, and at less rate of speed.

2. The fruit cleaning machine set forth consisting of a belt provided with a series of' brushes arranged to form a continuous brushing surface for the bottom of a chute or passage: a side belt also covered with a series of brushes and arranged to form one side of such passage way: a flexible band provided with a series of brushes attached thereto and arranged to form the top of such passageway: the stationary brushes arranged to form the other side of such passage way, and suitable means for driving the bottom and the side belts in opposite directions at varying rates of speed.

3. Thefruitcleaning machinesetforthcomprising the frame: the belt provided with a series of brushes arranged to form the bottom of a chute or passage, and trained over pulleys journaled in the frame: the belt provided with aseries of brushes and arranged to form one side of the passage, and trained over suitable pulleys journaled in the frame: stationary brushes arranged to form the other side and top of the passage way: suitable means for rotating the pulleys to cause the belts to travel in opposite directions at varying rates of speed: the receptacle arranged to hold the fruit in the path of the traveling elevator belt, and the elevator belt trained around suitable pulleys and provided with the tranverse slats arranged to receive and hold the fruit and to carry it upward and deposit it in the machine.

4. The fruit cleaning machine set forth comprising the frame: the belt provided with a series of brushes arranged to form the bottom of a chute or passage, and trained over pulleys journaled in the frame: the belt provided with a series of brushes and arranged to form one side of the passage and trained around suitable pulleys journaled in the frame: stationary brushes arranged to form the other side and the top of the passage way: suitable means for rotating the bottom and side belts in opposite directions at varying rates of speed: the nozzle arranged to discharge a jet of water into the mouth of the chute or passage, and the water pipe arranged to discharge a stream of water into the passage near the lower end thereof.

5. A fruit cleaning machine, provided with a brush lined passage having one or more of its sides movable and having one side formed in sections, each section being arranged to be forced into the passage by the operation of an independent weight.

6. In a fruit cleaning machine having traveling brushes, the combination of the stationary support provided with the opening therethrough; the brush provided with the stem projecting therefrom and passed through the opening in the support; the rollers secured upon eachside of the support and arranged to support the stem; the pulley secured to the support, the weight, and the flexible connection passed over the pulley, attached at one end to the weight and at its other end to the outer end of the stem.

7. A fruit cleaning machine provided with a long narrow brush lined passage having two of its sides movable at varying rates of speed: and having one side arranged to be yieldingly forced into the passage, and having its top flexibly arranged to be operated by the force of gravity to rest upon the fruit in the passage.

JOHN CLARK WILSON. Witnesses:

ALFRED I. TOWNSEND, WINIFRED L; DAVIS. 

